News, observations and reader questions about the Sacramento Kings and the NBA.

March 28, 2013

Sacramento took the season series with the Golden State Warriors with their 105-98 win on Wednesday night.

Games that start at 7:30 p.m. tough with a 10:30 p.m. deadline, so there are plenty of notes that don't have time to make it into the game story.

*Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson certainly want no part of the Kings this season. Curry shot 32.4 percent and Thompson shot 30.4 percent against the Kings this season.

*The Kings won the season series, 3-1, against the Warriors for the first time since 2003-03.
"I think we have similar styles," said Warriors coach Mark Jackson. "We both want to push it and put you in a lot of pick-and-rolls. Other than the fact that we are a defensive minded team, I think offensively they have guys at multiple positions that can score. I'm just glad we don't have to face them in a seven game series right now."
*Not only was Wednesday the Kings' first road win over a team with a winning record this season, it was the first road win against a Pacific Division foe.

Below are some quotes courtesy of the Warriors media relations staff (I didn't have the chance to stick around long because of my deadline).

From what I was told, DeMarcus Cousins did not stick around to answer questions after the game. He didn't play in the fourth quarter for defensive reasons.

KINGS COACH KEITH SMART

ON LIMITING STEPHEN CURRY AND KLAY THOMPSON:

"I thought our guys did a great job holding their composure and making sure Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson didn't have a big night from the three-point line. We kept them to around 22 percent from the three-point line and with the way that those guys can shoot it they can really break a game open. I thought we did a good job."

ON CHUCK HAYES:

"My hat really goes off to a guy like Chuck Hayes. I hadn't played him in the last couple of games and he came in and played well. I wanted to get a look at Cole Aldrich, but it is an unfortunate situation. When you make a trade you want to look at some new guys and see what kind of guys you have moving forward as we continue to grow this basketball team. I thought Chuck [Hayes] has been a professional. Not one time did he say a word because he didn't play in a couple games. Tonight, I thought it was very important that he played for us on the floor and utilized what he can do from a leadership standpoint and from his defensive understanding. I thought he did a great job on the floor and made some big plays for us on both sides of the ball."

ON ISAIAH THOMAS, TYREKE EVANS AND PATRICK PATTERSON:

"Isaiah Thomas represented his name very well tonight. He was someone who had to play well for us. Tyreke Evans was ill and was able to make it to tonight's game and give us what he could on the floor. We've been challenging Patrick Patterson to be a better rebounder and I thought he did a good job rebounding the basketball. During critical moments of the game he rebounded the ball very well. Having the opportunity to win on the road, no matter where you are in the NBA, is always good."

KINGS GUARD ISAIAH THOMAS

ON THE THIRD QUARTER:
"We wanted to come out of halftime and just sustain that run they started the half with and just be aggressive and make plays. Guys made a lot of plays in that third quarter, finding each other and knocking down shots, so we had a good third quarter."

ON GUARDING STEPHEN CURRY:
"We just wanted to be aggressive with him and make things hard for him. He's a hell of a player that can shoot with the best of them, so you feel like every shot he takes is going to go in. We wanted to just be very aggressive with him and kind of try to deny him the ball, and just make things tough for him. Toney (Douglas) did a great job, and we did a great job of overall team defense. I think I did better than the last game. I just wanted to pressure him a little bit, and like I said, not make it easy for him and I did that."

ON CONSISTENCY:
"Consistency; doing it on a nightly basis. You see games like this where we have good games and then a couple games later we might not play too well, and it won't look like the same team. So once we get this on a consistent basis, I think we can be a playoff team."

KINGS GUARD TYREKE EVANS

ON THE PLAY OF ISAIAH THOMAS:
"He's amazing, he did everything tonight, he was hot. He was getting the shots he wanted, made a couple tough ones but he was definitely player of the game tonight, he played great."

ON RECENT STOMACH ISSUES:
"A little bit but it wasn't as bad as it was in Philly. In Philly I couldn't even go back in the game, so definitely not bad."

(Note: Evans did not travel with the team on the bus on Tuesday evening because he was still feeling ill and joined the team Wednesday).

KINGS CENTER CHUCK HAYES

ON FACING THE WARRIORS:
"We play them well, we play them well. It's a division game, each team knows each other very well. The crowd interaction is great, we have a sprinkle of purple in there for the Kings and obviously their fans. So it was a good game against a division team."